Mayor, Council support state Global Warming Act

Santa Monica Mayor Robert Holbrook joined mayors and other elected officials of 12 California cities Wednesday, August 23rd, in Sacramento to endorse Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

The Santa Monica City Council had voted to support the bill June 13th.

AB 32 would direct the regulation of state emissions by:

— establishing a monitoring program,

— requiring the state’s consultation with advisory and stakeholder groups,

— adopting regulations on reduction strategies,

— limiting emissions, and

— establishing a governor’s task force.

The California Legislature is scheduled to vote on Assembly Bill 32 in the coming days and the officials called on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the bill when it reaches his desk.

Assembly Speaker Fabian N™“ez and local Assemblywoman Fran Pavley are the authors of the legislation, which has been called landmark.

“The City of Santa Monica strongly supports the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006,” said Holbrook at a press conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento.

“Over the past several years, Santa Monica has implemented a number of programs and policies to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions and each of these actions has strengthened our local economy,” Holbrook said. “Santa Monica welcomes the opportunity to help show the rest of California that the solutions to Global Warming are also the actions that will improve the quality of life in our communities as well as strengthen our future economic competitiveness.”

Santa Monica has kept more money in the pockets of residents and businesses, city officials said, by showing them how easy it is to be more energy efficient.

The city also reduced the fuel costs by converting fleet vehicles to cleaner alternative fuels and more fuel efficient engines, purchased 100-percent renewable electricity, installed solar electric systems in city facilities to lower electric rates and increased the economic value and operating performance of new buildings in Santa Monica by requiring high performance green design that reduces utility costs and increases worker productivity, city officials say.

These efforts and results confirm predictions by leading economists that fighting global warming will be good for the econ- omy, they say.

Holbrook and the other local elected officials in Sacramento to support AB 32 represent more than 10 million Californians.

In addition, 45 cities and five local government entities — air, water, and utility districts — have endorsed the bill.

“As mayors, we have been doing everything we can to save our cities’ precious resources by using energy more efficiently, investing in clean transportation options and improving the quality of our homes and office buildings,” said Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo. “But there are practical limits to what cities can accomplish on our own.”

The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 will extend these benefits to the rest of the state and unleash the power of new technologies to solve the global warming problem.

A study released last year by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation found that efforts in California to reduce global warming pollution, including initiatives in the state’s cities, have saved California consumers at least $60 billion since 1975 and dramatically reduced air pollution across the state.

Additional evidence shows that reduced global warming pollution also improves “livability” in cities as measured by real estate experts and consumer magazines, by increasing mass transit, creating more parks and pedestrian zones and improving the quality of home and business construction.

Information on AB 32, www.solutionsforglobalwarm ing.org

Information on what California local governments are doing to address global warming, www.iclei.org/usa